Thursday, 10 May 2018

Star Wars: The Clone Wars Novelisation Review [Books]

You’ll know that I’m a fan of the Republic Commando
series of novels if you’ve read Doctor Who: The Star Wars Chronicles. That
story has many a reference and lifts a lot from the lore introduced in that
series. But while Republic Commando is Karen Traviss’ most popular contribution
to Star Wars, she also had a few other novels within the franchise. One thing
you wouldn’t expect, considering the type of story she writes and her history,
is that she wrote The Clone Wars novelisation for the film. Yes, all this is
old news – with ten years separating then and now – but while I will be getting
around to talking about the Republic Commando series, I felt starting with the
novelisation would give me a chance to flex my reviewing skills in terms of
books.

The novel starts with the kidnapping of Jabba’s son, told
from the perspective of Jabba. There’s a number of scenes featuring Jabba,
focusing on what measures he takes to find his son – as well as going into why
this is so important to him. Palpatine and Dooku get some scenes, and the
interesting thing with Palpatine is that this novel keeps no secrets about him
also being Sidious. It’s an interesting move to outright say it when other
novels usually just hint at some dark secret he has, and for this I’d say it works.
The action at Christophsis is where we get Anakin, Obi-Wan, Ahsoka, Rex, and
the clones and droids fighting it out. And the reality of war is present and
correct here. The relationships between characters on a real and personal level
are here. Everything has the sort of logic you would expect from something
grounded in realism. An early example of such being when Ahsoka arrives. The
droids retreat because they think reinforcements have arrived. It’s a natural
thing to do.

Anakin – you really get the feeling here that he’s
conflicted and struggling to deal with his past. And at first he takes it out
on Ahsoka when she first arrives. He comes to realise that’s being harsh, and
gives her a chance – thinking back to his own first questioning by the Jedi Council
and how he’s doing the same to her. Rex gets focus the way clones under Traviss
do. He still feels like Rex, but with an awareness of just who he is and his
place within the world, and finding himself relying on the only things he knows
because he knows nothing else. And a touch of the advanced clone culture that
the Republic Commando series had. And speaking of connections with Republic
Commando, Anakin does draw a certain parallel to Bardan Jusik – in that he
knows there’s something wrong with the system but feels duty-bound to stay for
his comrades.

Teth brings Ventress into the story, with her
point-of-view showing why she has something against the Jedi and the lengths
she will go to complete a mission. This point is also where the strengths show
the most. Everything still goes exactly as the film plots, with extended Anakin
and Rex scenes with the more grounded and logical actions still working well.
Take the ‘evidence’ presented to Jabba. In the film, it’s just Anakin and
Ahsoka struggling with Rotta as Anakin says he hates Hutts. Within the novel,
it becomes a marvel of editing skills to fake the evidence from an entire
conversation held upon the two reaching the Huttlet. However, it definitely
feels that Traviss – for all she knows of wars and camaraderie – avoided anything
to do with getting inside the feelings of the ‘lawful’ Jedi. I can’t really
blame her for shifting the focus from Jedi to the everyday soldier when that’s
what she knows best, but Obi-Wan feels very much a side character. True, he
didn’t get much focus in the film either, but it feels like he has even less
here, and it would have been nice to see the events from his perspective – even
if just for one scene. Since the details of Ziro being involved were shown at
the start, the action within his palace is reduced from what we see in the film.
The important parts still remain, and we even see more of Palpatine being a
manipulator as he subtly brings Padmé into the action.

This one is definitely a good read, offering a different
tone and perspective from the film. There are also a lot of references to the
Republic Commando series, such a mention of the Coruscant Security Force, Gaib
and TK-0 being brought in by Jabba, and a scene near the end mirroring one at
the beginning of Triple Zero. As I’ve said, the inner workings of the clones
are explored to great effect here, so anyone who loved the focus episodes they
got within the TV series are in for more of that here. Anakin also has a great
focus here, really drawing on his thoughts and feeling of his past all the way
through. Again, this is a great one to read.